Coin controlled apparatus



PM L111, 113 H D. TROY COIN CONTROLLED APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 29,1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MUD/E6556: v V /N\/ENTOR: i2

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D. TROY COIN CONTROLLED APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 29, 1935 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 26, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COINCONTROLLED APPARATUS Application November 29, 1933, Serial No. 700,210Renewed October 25, 1935 1 Claim.

The invention relates to coin controlled apparatus such as vendingmachinery and the like; and the object of the invention is to providenew, useful, reliable, and inexpensive methods and apparatus for.accepting good coins and rejecting imitations thereof, and foroperating coin controlled mechanism in conjunction therewith.

The invention is not confined to the specific employment shown in thedrawings and adopted herein as a typical application of the method andapparatus, but is capable of much flexibility of design and use. I havetaken herein as generally illustrative of the invention an apparatusdesigned for use with a package vending machine, such as a cigarettevendor, the merchandise to be sold at a uniform price of fifteen cents,and the apparatus arranged to operate upon the introduction of threefive cent pieces or nickels. It will be obvious that the method employedis not materially limited by the number of coins desired to be takeninto the machine at one operation.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a partly sectional elevation of theapparatus, the sectional portion being only the housing which is part ofthe vending machine itself; this elevation is such as would be had fromwithin the machine housing. For clarity, magazines to hold themerchandise, and other related parts, are omitted. Fig. 2 is a view atright angles to that in Fig. 1, with certain parts omitted; while Fig. 3is a circuit diagram.

The invention will be best understood by a description of the progressof coins through the apparatus.

The coins are introduced, one after the other, and preferably with shortintervals between each insertion, into a slot I. The initial position ofa coin to be introduced is indicated in a dotted circle 2 in Fig. 1. Asthe coin is forced into the 'slot, a lever 3, controlled by a spring 4,is de- 'pressed, its extremest operating position being indicated 'onFig. 1 by dotted outlines, the coin engaging a stud 5 at the end of saidlever, and passing between said stud and a fixed stud 6. .'.When morethan half the coin is within the slot, the retractile spring 4 operatesto force the coin into the apparatus with considerable velocity.

The coin travels down a runway 1, being defined in this model by twosheets or laminations separated by suitable spacers or guides, asindicated in the drawings. The coin strikes an anvil 8, which may, butneed not be, so dis- :posed with a vertical face as here shown (Fig. l).If the disc inserted into the slot does not happen to be a genuine coinof the required denomination and issue, but is a slug made of lead,babbitt, solder, and in some cases other soft metals, it bounces butslightly from the face of theanvil, and generally follows through theap- 5 paratus a path of which the dot-and-dash center-line path It istypical. 9 is a soft slug being rejected, seen through a cutting in oneof the plates defining the coin runways. Other positions of soft slugsare shown in dotted circles. 10 If the coin or imitation coin is ofsufficient resilience it rebounds from the anvil much farther; and anadjustable partition, here shown (Fig. 1) slidable up and down in aslotway in the plate or Wall of the runways at I l, is so disposed as toroute the coins and slugs after such coins and slugs have struck theanvil; and the adjustment of such partition is that found byexperimentation which will serve best to separate lead, babbitt, etc.from harder coins and slugs, such as the genuine coin itself, brass,iron, steel, copper, duralumin, etc; I l is shown only in Fig. 1. Coinsand slugs which clear the top of the partition I l are routed to anairgap in an electromagnet, the runway being so designed as to break thespeed 25 of the coin or slug and to nearly bring it to a halt justbefore the air gap is reached. It has been found desirable to have thespeed of the approaching coin as nearly devoid of velocity as possiblewithout rendering the declivity of the runway incapable of permittingthe coin to roll further subsequently, when no electrical disturbancesare acting against the ordinary atraction of gravitation.

It has been found that if metal discs are routed through a region ofintense magnetic fiux, the well-known Foucault currents set up in thedisc in its efiort to cut the lines of force tend to retard the progressof the disc as it enters the field. It has further been found thatmagnetic fields of certain strengths in combination with certain speedsof travel of such discs will operate to; arrest certain electricalconductors, but permit to pass others of lower conductivity. In theapparatus herein described, the field is preferably set up by alaminated nearly-complete iron core within a coil energized byalternating current of the common 110-120 voltage range. .This field isof course particularly intense. I have found that in the design hereinshown and in a number of similar designs the flux operates to arrestbrass, copper, aluminum, duralumin, zinc, iron, steel, German silver,and a number of other metal discs, but will pass the common five centpiece or nickel, which is of an unusually high re- 55 sistivity. Theschematic design of this magnet I2 is shown in the circuit diagram (Fig.3).

As it is desirable to energize the magnet |2 only as and when needed inthe coin testing function, an automatic switch mechanism is provided forthis purpose. The downward movement of the lever 3 depresses axially arod l3, suitably guided in a bracket M which is attached or mounted asshown to the iron of the magnet pile-up, and said rod I3 is controlledby a retractile compression spring I5. At the lower end of the rod I3 isa cam l6, of some insulating material such as bakelite, which, in movingdownward, permits a switch A, of the common jack type, and controllingthe circuit embracing magnet |2, to close. An armature (here a cylinder,preferably of iron), fixed to rod I3, and which, in operation, is movedalong the pole piece of the magnet, and is attracted thereby as soon asthe switch A is closed, acts as a brake and materially retards therecovery to normal position of the rod I3. The rod I3 is independent ofthe upward motion of the lever 3 (see Fig. 2 particularly); lever 3 mayrecover its normal position almost instantaneously; but rod |3, forcedupward after the introduction of each coin by the retractile spring l5,due to the artificial friction caused by the attraction of magnet l2 andthe armature I'I, retains its normal position only after an interval ofa second or thereabouts; and the magnet I2 is energized throughout mostof this period. Of course it is desirable to predetermine this intervalso that the coin to be tested electrically will have had time to reachthe air gap, and so be tested for its resistivity, etc., before thefield is deadened. The weight of the armature, the strength of thesprings, and incidental friction, and otherfactors provide amplelatitude, should, in various designs, it be desired to change theinterval of energization.

As the magnet is energized it attracts and lifts an armature |9, whichis a peculiarly shaped iron bell-crank, hinged beneath the pole face asshown, and passing through a slot in the plate of the apparatus, thusforming, in its normal position, part of the fioor of the coin runwaythrough the air gap and beyond. When I9 is withdrawn, or attracted, agenuine coin, not arrested by the flux, is permitted to fall into runway29. If the disc introduced is brass, zinc, or something of relativelylow resistivity, it is arrested by the flux until the magnet isdeenergized; and then rolls down the slightly inclined runway, over thelip of armature l9, which will have immediately regained its normalposition, and so to rejection at 2|.

Thus coins of low resilience fail to rebound from the anvil sufiicientlyto clear the partition I I, while coins and slugs of harder material,but of lower resistivity than the desired coin, do clear the partition,but are arrested by the fiux until the deenergization of magnet |2, andare then rejected as shown above.

22 is a lever especially constructed to be employed in delivering smallpackages, such as packs of cigarettes, from the bottom of a stack withina magazine of the type well known in the art. 22 is fixed as shown on ashaft 23, which is journaled in brackets 24 and 25, fixed to the platesof the apparatus. The lever 22 is normally held as shown (Fig. 2) infull lines; its extremest operating position is indicated on Fig. 2 indotted outlines.

Also fixed on shaft 23 is a peculiarly shaped three-armed member (thedesign being quite arbitrary), consisting in a shaft collar, radiatingfrom which and integral with are an arm 21, connected, as shown, by alink 28, with the core 29 of a solenoid 30; and an arm 3|, and a stud32. The two .arms and the stud are disposed angularly substantially asshown, and being made as one unit, are so fixed with relation to eachother (see Fig. 2). The throw of the solenoid core 29 is shown by dottedposition lines in Figs. 1 and 2, and the extreme operating positions ofthe other members are likewise shown in Fig. 2 in dotted outlines. Themovement of lever 22 is that found adequate to dislodge the package tobe vended, and this movement, of course, is the chief factor indetermining the construction of the solenoidal equipment.

Arm 3|, not visible in Fig. 1, and shown nearly complete in Fig. 2,engages, at its far end, a stud 33, fixed on bracket 24, such engagementnormally determining the angular positions of shaft 23 and its members.

Bracket 25 is cut away partially to show arm 3| and .a switch of theordinary jack type B, the end of said switch being also seen in Fig. 1.Near the extreme end of arm 3| is a vertically fixed stud 34, ofbakelite or some other suitable insulating material, which normallyserves to hold the switch B open, as shown.

The vertically disposed stud 32 holds a rod 35, of bakelite or someother insulating material, which passes through a vertical slot 36 inthe apparatus (see Fig. 1), and said insulator rod is able to move in avertical plane to the position shown on Fig. 2 in dotted outlines.

The runway is continued into an inset block 31 of some suitableinsulating material such as bakelite, and beyond (not shown) to a cashbox, or other suitable receptacle. Inset in the block 31 and soinsulated from the apparatus generally are two rectangular brass orother suitable conductor blocks, 38 and 39, which are separated fromeach other as shown by a considerable area of insulating material. Inconstructions found workable by the inventor, the block 31 waspreviously milled to receive the conductor rectangles 38 and 39, whichwere fixed in place, by being riveted or screwed; then the coin runwaywas milled diagonally, to provide the required declivity of runway,through the entire assembly. The assembly was covered by an insulatorsheet, and screwed into a rectangular frame formed by the apparatusstructure. The plan is clearly shown in Fig. 1. The conductor blocksprovide metal on three sides of the coin runway in their respectiveregions, and such areas are separated by insulated runway. The conductorblocks 38 and 39 are, in Fig. 1, shown provided with connecting lugs,for attaching wires. When three coins have been received into the runway20, the bottommost having been held in place by the rod 35 intersectingthe runway 20 through the slot 36, blocks 38 and 39 are in electricalconnection through the coins.

Fig. 3, a circuit diagram,'shows clearly the function of all switchesheretofore mentioned. D is a thermo-relay, designed to operate fairlyquickly. When three coins are received in switch C (0 being the switchwhich consists in the block 31, the contacts 38, 39, and associatedparts), which controls a shunt linethrough the solenoid, said solenoidis energized, and begins to draw in its core 29. But when a smallfraction of the total operation of the solenoid has been effected, arm3| will have moved upward sufficiently so that its stud 34 will havedisengaged switch B,

permitting said switch to close. Switch B is in another shunt line tothe solenoid (Fig. 3), which line also embraces a thermo-relay D. D isnowhere shown pictorially, its position being immaterial. When B isclosed, the solenoid is no longer dependent upon C for the supply ofcurrent. As the operation continues, rod 35 rises and permits thenickels to roll out of runway 20 into a cash box, or elsewhere. Thesolenoid completes its throw uninterruptedly, effecting delivery of thearticle to be vended; the movable parts associated with the solenoid areof course held in extreme operating displacement until the thermo-relayD automatically opens-which may be a half second or so-and cuts thecircuit. A spring 26, attached to the lever 22, and to some adequate lugor other suitable member (not shown) of the apparatus operates to bringthe parts associated with shaft 23 back to their normal positions.Spring 26 is shown only on Fig. 2, and only partially on that drawing.

Having described my invention, what I claim 1s:

In apparatus of the class described, an anvil, means arranged to guidecoins against the anvil, a fence arranged to be cleared by coins ofcertain resiliency rebounding from said anvil and to stop coins of lessresiliency, a runway arranged to be traversed by coins which havecleared said fence, means arranged to produce an alternating magneticfield across said runway strong enough to arrest coins of certainspecific conductivity in said runway and to pass coins of less specificconductivity, means for maintaining the magnetic field for apredetermined time, and means controlled by said first named means andoperative only while said field is in existence to allow coins whichhave cleared said fence and traversed said runway to be selectivelyreceived.

DANIEL TROY.

